The present invention relates to a method of producing a cuff of a sphygmomanometer having an automatic cuff winding mechanism.
In order to understand the health condition of a patient, it is very important to measure blood pressure information. In recent years, efforts to detect cardiac load or arterial sclerosis have been made by measuring pulse wave, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure, the effectiveness of which is widely known as a major indicator to analyze the risks of cardiovascular diseases such as cerebral embolism, cardiac arrest, and cardiac infarction.
A blood pressure information monitoring device is a device to measure these types of blood pressure information and is expected to be further used in the field of early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Moreover, blood pressure information includes various kinds of cardiovascular type of information such as various kinds of indicators that indicate systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, average blood pressure, pulse wave, pulse, and the degree of arterial sclerosis.
Generally, a cuff for a blood pressure information monitoring device (hereafter, simply called cuff) is used to measure the blood pressure information. Here, the cuff means a band-shaped or ring-shaped structure that includes a fluid bladder having an inner cavity, and can be worn on a part of a human body, and can be used for measuring the blood pressure information by applying pressure to an artery by expanding the fluid bladder by supplying a fluid such as a gas or a liquid into the inner cavity.
In recent years, sphygmomanometers are commonly equipped with an automatic cuff winding mechanism that automatically winds a cuff on an upper arm. References that disclose a sphygmomanometer equipped with this kind of automatic cuff winding mechanism are, for example, Publication of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application JP-H10-314123, Publication of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application JP-2005-237432, Publication of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application JP-2005-230175 and Publication of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application JP-2005-305028 and the like.
In the sphygmomanometers disclosed in those patent references, a cuff is arranged so as to surround a hollow portion that is provided on the device main body, and the shape of the hollow portion is configured in a substantially cylindrical shape, which is larger than the outer shape of the upper arm in the state prior to the cuff being wound on the upper arm (in other words, when the cuff is not wound by the cuff winding mechanism), and it is configured such that the cuff can be fitted on the upper arm by reducing the diameter in order to fit to the shape of the upper arm by operating the automatic cuff winding mechanism.
In the sphygmomanometers in which the above configuration is adopted, because winding strength of the cuff is maintained at a certain level on the upper arm for each measurement, stable measuring accuracy can be realized. Also, because a complicated cuff winding operation becomes unnecessary, it can improve convenience.